The Menzingers - “On The Impossible Past”
February 20th 2012 09:00
One of this years most anticipated releases in the punk scene is the new record from The Menzingers. One of the most talked about bands last year, their name has been thrown into the same category as Against Me and The Gaslight Anthem and from the opening track “Good Things” on “On The Impossible Past”, you can understand why. I found it hard to do anything else but sit and listen to this record with my full attention. Here is a great band with melodic heartfelt songs, beautiful songwriting and songs that make you want to sing!
Shared vocalists Tom May & Greg Barnett work well together. At times it’s hard to pick them apart. They sound like a mix of Tom Gabel from Against Me, Davey Havok of AFI and a touch of Ken Casey from Dropkick Murphy’s. But it’s the delivery of some of these tracks that are stand outs. They turn these songs into anthems. Listen to “Sun Hotel” and “Burn After Writing” as examples. Here is a band with a talent for writing great songs, enthuse the passion and spirit of punk rock with the sensibilities of Frank Turner and some of rocks great songwriters in Springsteen and Petty
“The Gates” has a sound reminiscent of The Clash. Clean guitar lines and a catchy refrain.
“Sculptors And Vandals” is a rollicking folk rock song. The title track “On The Impossible Past” is a slow, reverb guitar track with a central theme of Americana and fades into “Nice Things” which has a Gaslight Anthem feel musically and lyrically reminds me of Frank Turner. “I Can’t Seem To Tell” talks of losing your focus on what is going on around you. The song comes across as autobiographical with the great line ‘I can’t seem to tell/if it’s my head spinning/or the world’ and “Freedom Bridge” talks of hometown characters that get stuck in the small town and waste away and coming from a small country town, it’s easy for me to relate to some of these characters.
The album’s title comes from Vladimir Nabokov’s novel “Lolita” and according to the band this is a deeply personal record. In “The Obituaries” they sing ‘I will fuck this up/I fucking know it’ sums up the humbleness of a band who I doubt will fuck it up, and I bet will feature on many album of the year lists come December.
Shared vocalists Tom May & Greg Barnett work well together. At times it’s hard to pick them apart. They sound like a mix of Tom Gabel from Against Me, Davey Havok of AFI and a touch of Ken Casey from Dropkick Murphy’s. But it’s the delivery of some of these tracks that are stand outs. They turn these songs into anthems. Listen to “Sun Hotel” and “Burn After Writing” as examples. Here is a band with a talent for writing great songs, enthuse the passion and spirit of punk rock with the sensibilities of Frank Turner and some of rocks great songwriters in Springsteen and Petty
“The Gates” has a sound reminiscent of The Clash. Clean guitar lines and a catchy refrain.
“Sculptors And Vandals” is a rollicking folk rock song. The title track “On The Impossible Past” is a slow, reverb guitar track with a central theme of Americana and fades into “Nice Things” which has a Gaslight Anthem feel musically and lyrically reminds me of Frank Turner. “I Can’t Seem To Tell” talks of losing your focus on what is going on around you. The song comes across as autobiographical with the great line ‘I can’t seem to tell/if it’s my head spinning/or the world’ and “Freedom Bridge” talks of hometown characters that get stuck in the small town and waste away and coming from a small country town, it’s easy for me to relate to some of these characters.
The album’s title comes from Vladimir Nabokov’s novel “Lolita” and according to the band this is a deeply personal record. In “The Obituaries” they sing ‘I will fuck this up/I fucking know it’ sums up the humbleness of a band who I doubt will fuck it up, and I bet will feature on many album of the year lists come December.
The Menzingers - On The Impossible Past
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